Water digest – week of Feb 27

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on February 21 held that a local California water authority did not have standing to challenge Department of Interior and Bureau of Reclamation decisions on water flow based on endangered species considerations. San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority v. Kevin Haugrud wound up affirming federal agency obligations to take responsibility for considering endangered species considerations.

Despite objections from many water suppliers that drought conditions have ended, the State Water Resources Control Board this week voted unanimously to extend emergency water conservation regulations throughout California.

The largest coal-fired power plant in the west, the Navajo Generating Station in northeast Arizona, is proposed for an end of operations in 2019. It is a heavy water used in a parched region. The plant uses a significant amount of water, much of it from Lake Powell on the Colorado River system. What would happen to it if the plant stops operations?

photo/At the Oroville Dam in California, a partial view of the emergency spillway (left) and the concrete structure containing the gates for the main service spillway (right)